


going to starbucks and making the barista write 'static man' on a cup

by octopodian



Category: Archive 81 (Podcast)
Genre: M/M, and the pressure to have a 'normal' name for cis acceptance, discussion of names and their meanings, its brief though, so if thatll make you uncomfortable dont read!, theres a little bit of static man having internalized transphobia wrt his name, trans static man
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-09
Updated: 2020-09-09
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:21:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 380
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26366377
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/octopodian/pseuds/octopodian
Summary: "Thank you, baby-names-dot-com, but I am not taking name advice from someone named 'Nicholas'. You lost your say when your mom named you that.”
Relationships: Static Man/Nicholas Waters
Comments: 2
Kudos: 51





	going to starbucks and making the barista write 'static man' on a cup

“Do you think you’ll go by Arthur again? After we get you a body.”

Static man shrugs. “I dunno, man. Like, I didn’t choose this name, but it fits, y’know? Knife in the winter and shit, it's badass. Much better than fucking _Arthur_.” 

"Arthur represents nobility. It’s a nice name.” Nicholas shrugs, sitting back in his chair. “Still, you can choose another one, you know.”

"Thank you, baby-names-dot-com, but I am _not_ taking name advice from someone named 'Nicholas'. You lost your say when your mom named you that.”

Nicholas snorts. “I guess I can’t argue with that.” He stretches out his bad leg a little, winces. “Why’d you pick Arthur in the first place, then? Assuming you did, of course.”

Static man hums as he tries to remember through the few decades of haze. “I figured it’d, I dunno, not piss anyone off? Like, Arthur has to be one of the most boring names ever, right? No one's gonna look at that and think twice. Didn’t do shit, obviously, but hey, it made me feel better. Made me feel like one of the 'good' trans people." 

Nicholas nods. “You can… still go by Static man, you know that, right? Even after we get you a body? There's no rule saying you have to change it."

He scoffs. “No, dude. I am not going to Starbucks and making the barista write 'Static man' on a fuckin’ cup. Like, I’m not an asshole. I’ll go back to Arthur or… I dunno.” 

Nicholas sighs again. “I would prefer to call you a name you actually _want_ to be called.” 

Static man shrugs. “Not really a name guy, I guess.” 

There’s a long, pregnant pause. “For the record, I will stop calling you Arthur when I’m upset. It’s… petty of me. I apologize.” 

Static man doesn’t like dealing with emotional shit. Usually he doesn’t exist long enough for it to come up, he can just push it off until it's no longer a problem.

But Nicholas is here, and will continue to be here, and as long as Nicholas is here he will be too, so he says “It’s fine, dude.”

“It’s not, but thank you.” Nicholas folds his hands neatly in front of himself. “Now, I believe you were telling me about-”


End file.
